IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/empeco/v42y2012i3p835-862.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regional infrastructure and firm investment: theory and empirical evidence for Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Aiello
  • Alfonsina Iona
  • Leone Leonida

Abstract

We model the channels through which public expenditure on infrastructure influences firm value and shapes its investment decisions via both adjustment costs and marginal profitability of capital. We test these hypotheses by using a large panel of Italian firms. Empirical results show that infrastructure interacts with revenues and costs in shaping firm's profitability of capital and influences its adjustment costs. Finally we find that infrastructure expenditure contributes to reduce the economic gap between the North and the South of Italy. These effects vary across regions and sectors.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Aiello & Alfonsina Iona & Leone Leonida, 2012. "Regional infrastructure and firm investment: theory and empirical evidence for Italy," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 835-862, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:42:y:2012:i:3:p:835-862
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-010-0445-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00181-010-0445-9
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00181-010-0445-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baum, Christopher F. & Caglayan, Mustafa & Talavera, Oleksandr, 2008. "Uncertainty determinants of firm investment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 98(3), pages 282-287, March.
    2. Chirinko, Robert S, 1993. "Business Fixed Investment Spending: Modeling Strategies, Empirical Results, and Policy Implications," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 31(4), pages 1875-1911, December.
    3. H. Ahmed & SM. Miller, 2000. "Crowding‐out and crowding‐in effects of the components of government expenditure," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(1), pages 124-133, January.
    4. Evans, Paul & Karras, Georgios, 1994. "Is government capital productive? Evidence from a panel of seven countries," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 271-279.
    5. Alfredo M. Pereira & Jorge M. Andraz, 2007. "Public Investment In Transportation Infrastructures And Industry Performance In Portugal," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Glenn Otto & Graham Voss, 1995. "Public Infrastructure and Private Production," Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics, vol. 2(2), pages 181-189.
    7. Sean Cleary, 1999. "The Relationship between Firm Investment and Financial Status," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 673-692, April.
    8. Inessa Love, 2003. "Financial Development and Financing Constraints: International Evidence from the Structural Investment Model," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 16(3), pages 765-791, July.
    9. Campa, Jose Manuel & Goldberg, Linda S, 1999. "Investment, Pass-Through, and Exchange Rates: A Cross-Country Comparison," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 40(2), pages 287-314, May.
    10. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas, 1994. "Public-Sector Capital and the Productivity Puzzle," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 12-21, February.
    11. Aschauer, David Alan, 1989. "Does public capital crowd out private capital?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 171-188, September.
    12. Caballero, Ricardo J., 1999. "Aggregate investment," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 813-862, Elsevier.
    13. Nadiri, M Ishaq & Mamuneas, Theofanis P, 1994. "The Effects of Public Infrastructure and R&D Capital on the Cost Structure and Performance of U.S. Manufacturing Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 22-37, February.
    14. R. Glenn Hubbard, 1998. "Capital-Market Imperfections and Investment," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 193-225, March.
    15. Turnovsky, Stephen J., 1999. "Productive Government Expenditure In A Stochastically Growing Economy," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(4), pages 544-570, December.
    16. Turnovsky, Stephen J, 1996. "Fiscal Policy, Adjustment Costs, and Endogenous Growth," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 48(3), pages 361-381, July.
    17. Martin, Philippe & Rogers, Carol Ann, 1995. "Industrial location and public infrastructure," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3-4), pages 335-351, November.
    18. Federico Bonaglia & Eliana La Ferrara & Massimiliano Marcellino, 2000. "Public Capital and Economic Performance: Evidence from Italy," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 59(2), pages 221-244, September.
    19. Baltagi, Badi H & Pinnoi, Nat, 1995. "Public Capital Stock and State Productivity Growth: Further Evidence from an Error Components Model," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 351-359.
    20. Morrison, Catherine J & Schwartz, Amy Ellen, 1996. "State Infrastructure and Productive Performance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1095-1111, December.
    21. Ingrid Ott & Susanne Soretz, 2006. "Government expenditure, capital adjustment, and economic growth," Computing in Economics and Finance 2006 362, Society for Computational Economics.
    22. Hayashi, Fumio, 1982. "Tobin's Marginal q and Average q: A Neoclassical Interpretation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(1), pages 213-224, January.
    23. Demetriades, Panicos O & Mamuneas, Theofanis P, 2000. "Intertemporal Output and Employment Effects of Public Infrastructure Capital: Evidence from 12 OECD Economics," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(465), pages 687-712, July.
    24. John A. Tatom, 1991. "Should government spending on capital goods be raised?," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Mar, pages 3-15.
    25. Nucci, Francesco & Pozzolo, Alberto F., 2001. "Investment and the exchange rate: An analysis with firm-level panel data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 259-283, February.
    26. Sergio Destefanis & Vania Sena, 2005. "Public capital and total factor productivity: New evidence from the Italian regions, 1970-98," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 603-617.
    27. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    28. Alfredo M. Pereira, 2000. "Is All Public Capital Created Equal?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(3), pages 513-518, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alfonsina Iona, 2019. "Modelling the Relation between Managers, Shadow Cost of External Finance and Corporate Investment," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-10, November.
    2. Aiello, Francesco & Pupo, Valeria & Ricotta, Fernanda, 2013. "Firm heterogeneity in TFP, sectoral innovation and geography. Evidence from Italy," MPRA Paper 48573, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Myck, Michal & Najsztub, Mateusz, 2019. "Policy in the Pipeline: Identifying Regional Public Investment Priorities Using a Natural Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 12220, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Athreye, Suma & Saeed, Abubakr & Baloch, Muhammad Saad, 2021. "Financial crisis of 2008 and outward foreign investments from China and India," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(3).
    5. Francesco Aiello & Valeria Pupo & Fernanda Ricotta, 2014. "Explaining Total Factor Productivity at Firm Level in Italy: Does Location Matter?," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 51-70, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francesco Aiello & Alfonsina Iona & Leone Leonida, 2012. "Regional infrastructure and firm investment: theory and empirical evidence for Italy," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 835-862, June.
    2. Silvia Bertarelli, 2006. "Public capital and growth," Politica economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 361-398.
    3. Alfredo M. Pereira & Jorge M. Andraz, 2013. "On The Economic Effects Of Public Infrastructure Investment: A Survey Of The International Evidence," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 38(4), pages 1-37, December.
    4. Francisco Rodríguez, 2006. "Have Collapses in Infrastructure Spending Led to Cross-Country Divergence in per Capita GDP?," Wesleyan Economics Working Papers 2006-013, Wesleyan University, Department of Economics.
    5. Francesco Aiello & Camilla Mastromarco & Angelo Zago, 2011. "Be productive or face decline. On the sources and determinants of output growth in Italian manufacturing firms," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 787-815, December.
    6. Valter Di Giacinto & Giacinto Micucci & Pasqualino Montanaro, 2012. "The Macroeconomic Impact of Infrastructures: A Literature Review and Empirical Analysis on the Case of Italy," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 1, March.
    7. Ward Romp & Jakob De Haan, 2007. "Public Capital and Economic Growth: A Critical Survey," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 8(S1), pages 6-52, April.
    8. Spiros Bougheas & Panicos Demetriades & Edgar Morgenroth, 2003. "International aspects of public infrastructure investment," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 36(4), pages 884-910, November.
    9. Angel De la Fuente, 2010. "Infrastructures and productivity: an updated survey," Working Papers 1018, BBVA Bank, Economic Research Department.
    10. Fedderke, J.W. & Bogetic, Z., 2009. "Infrastructure and Growth in South Africa: Direct and Indirect Productivity Impacts of 19 Infrastructure Measures," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1522-1539, September.
    11. Caggese, Andrea, 2007. "Testing financing constraints on firm investment using variable capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 683-723, December.
    12. Pedro R.D. Bom & Jenny E. Ligthart, 2009. "How Productive is Public Capital? A Meta-Regression Analysis," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0912, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    13. Jason G. Cummins & Kevin A. Hassett & Stephen D. Oliner, 2006. "Investment Behavior, Observable Expectations, and Internal Funds," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 796-810, June.
    14. Mercedes Gumbau Albert & Joaquín Maudos Villarroya & Pedro Cantos, 2002. "Transport Infrastructures And Regional Growth: Evidence Of The Spanish Case," Working Papers. Serie EC 2002-27, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    15. Filipe Silva & Carlos Carreira, 2012. "Measuring Firms’ Financial Constraints: A Rough Guide," Notas Económicas, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra, issue 36, pages 23-46, December.
    16. Tori, Daniele & Onaran, Özlem, 2017. "The effects of financialisation and financial development on investment: evidence from firm-level data in Europe," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 16089, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    17. Wei Zou & Fen Zhang & Ziyin Zhuang & Hairong Song, 2008. "Transport Infrastructure, Growth, and Poverty Alleviation: Empirical Analysis of China," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 9(2), pages 345-371, November.
    18. Arestoff, Florence & Hurlin, Christophe, 2006. "Estimates of government net capital stocks for 26 developing countries, 1970-2002," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3858, The World Bank.
    19. Torrisi, Gianpiero, 2009. "Infrastructures and economic performance: a critical comparison across four approaches," MPRA Paper 18688, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Macdonald, Ryan, 2008. "An Examination of Public Capital's Role in Production," Economic Analysis (EA) Research Paper Series 2008050e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regional infrastructure; Firm’s value; Corporate investment; D21; D62; D92;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • D92 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:42:y:2012:i:3:p:835-862. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.